A comprehensive review on xanthone derivatives as α-glucosidase inhibitors

α-Glucosidase plays an important role in carbohydrate metabolism and is therefore an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of diabetes, obesity and other related complications. In the last two decades, considerable interest has been given to natural and synthetic xanthone derivatives in this field of research. Herein, a comprehensive review of the literature on xanthones as inhibitors of α-glucosidase activity, their mechanism of action, experimental procedures and structure-activity relationships have been reviewed for more than 280 analogs. With this overview we intend to motivate and challenge researchers (e.g. chemistry, biology, pharmaceutical and medicinal areas) for the design of novel xanthones as multipotent drugs and exploit the properties of this class of compounds in the management of diabetic complications.